Suggestions to medical writers / by George M. Gould.

  • George M. Gould
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Suggestions to medical writers / by George M. Gould. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    thinking as an excuse for libertinage, and also that the self- righteous applied the term with egotistic indiscrimination. Miscreant, once simply an unbeliever, shows also the odium theo- logicum, rather than that unbelievers were miscreants; just as an Infidel need not be a heathen or atheist to be untrustworthy. Cupidity is noteworthy for its remarkable transformation, as it is, of course, derived from cupid, who is supposed to laugh at avarice and covetousness. The Latin cupere meant simply to desire. That the engrossing object of desire be¬ comes money is plain enough in the present-day character of Cupid contrasted with our definition of cupidity. Of an avaricious man by the name of Love, a mot-maker said “ Cupid is the God of love, but cupidity is Love’s God.” Sensual, Bacon properly applied to all the senses. The engross¬ ing domination of one sense is shown in the present lim¬ itation. The same may be said of Lust, which Bishop Hall thought of as eager desire of any kind. Egregious. Milton’s use was simply that of remarkable ; ours is remarkably bad. Silly, once meant timely, then innocent, then simple or foolish. On German tombstones one will to-day find it to signify blessed or beloved. There are hundreds of words with most noteworthy ori¬ gins or histories, in which interesting and startling lessons are taught. Assassin, e.g., tells us of that astounding “Old Man of the Mountains,” who defied governments, and created an army of death-dispensing and, death-loving slaves by means of opium narcosis, a mimic paradise, and assassination. The pawnbroker’s three balls tell us of the pills of the medical or Medici family, while still physicians, before they became bankers. The barbels pole is a whole chapter in the history of surgery. What a glimpse into history with its roads, caravans, etc., lies in the word trade, the path trodden ! Many such words could be listed by the pagefuls and illustrate the sad truth that men are quick to see evil and misrepresent good. One needs to go over such lists alone,
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